Except when, as the Bible shows, it doesn't.
"Bowing clearly is not the point, which can occur when you are doing a country dance" ---Dutchboy88
Metmom, I'm quite sure you know that what’s forbidden is bowing in adoration; not bowing as a sign of honor or respect.
Can I show that Biblically? Sure. It permeates Old Testament culture.
I looked up “kneel(ing)” and “bow(ing)” in the good old BibleGateway Keyword Search, and found so many references it would be exhausting to list them all.
Genesis 23:7 Then Abraham rose and bowed down before the people of that land
Genesis 33:3-7 Jacob bowed down to the ground seven times as he approached his brother Esau
maidservants and their children bow down to Esau
Leah and her children bow down
Joseph and Rachel bow. Etc. etc!
Genesis 37 Joseph’s dreams: his brothers’ sheaves of corn -— and then the sun and moon and eleven stars —— bow down to him. Later his brothers actually do bow down to him with their faces to the ground
Genesis 48:11 Joseph bows to Jacob “with his face to the earth.”
1 Kings 1:15 Bathsheba bows low (face to the ground) and kneels before the aged king David
2 Kings 1:13 the captain kneels before the prophet Elijah, and “prays” —begs-— him to spare his life and the life of his 50 men
Moses bows down to father-in-law; Ruth bows down to Boaz;
David prostrates before Jonathan;
David prostrates to Saul;
Abigail prostrates to David;
Saul prostrates to Samuel;
Nathan prostrates to David;
Obadiah bows to the ground before Elijah; the prophets in Jericho bow before Elisha;
the “whole assembly” bows low and prostrates before David;
David bows to the Temple;
David prostrates to Jerusalem;
God causes the king’s adversaries to bow prostrate on the ground and “lick the dust at his feet”;
the sons of the oppressors will bow to Zion.
OK, pretty obviously the patriarchs, prophets, and kings knew about the commandment not to bow down and worship anything or anybody but God. But here they are bowing, kneeling, and prostrating, and God is not offended. Why?
Because the commandment clearly forbids bowing and worshiping a creature as the Creator; it does not forbid kneeling or bowing (to king, prophet, father, husband or brother) as a form of honor.
The commandment does not prohibit kneeling or bowing to give honor. It prohibits adoration toward anyone but Almighty God.
Now here’s an interesting episode:
1 Kings 2:19
When Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him for Adonijah, the king stood up to meet her, bowed down to her and sat down on his throne. He had a throne brought for the king’s mother, and she sat down at his right hand.
Here’s the King bowing to his mother. Does that mean she’s equal to God? No. It doesn’t even mean she’s equal to the King. It means he’s pleased to honor her because of her royal dignity, her relationship as Queen Mother.
As our mindset gets further and further from traditional custom and culture, it gets harder and harder to grasp what was once the universal language of physical gesture (he salute, the tip of the hat, the bow, the genuflection, the handclasp, the curtsey, the kiss) and put each expression in its proper perspective.
Dutchboy88 understands this (LINK)
"Bowing clearly is not the point, which can occur when you are doing a country dance" ---Dutchboy88
Where any of them graven images?
Bowing down in a country dance is not bowing down before a carved image, which is what the pope was clearly doing in the image posted.
I’ve seen these kinds of mental gymnastics before in trying to justify calling priests *Father* for example.